The present invention relates generally to skating boots. More particularly, the boot of the invention is adapted to anatomically fit the foot of the user and allows the user to perform a full range of motions needed in ice-skating, roller-skating, and roller-blading. The boot of the invention may be optionally used as a skiing boot and for other athletic activities.
Skating presents a number of challenges for the motion of the foot of the user. An ideal skating boot must allow certain motions while restricting others and supporting the ankle of the user. The following is a partial list of requirements for an ideal skating boot:                It should completely surround and encase the toe, foot and the ankle joint of the user without any voids or protruding parts either inside or outside the boot. The foot in such a boot should feel like a “hand in glove”.        The boot should allow a full motion of the calf of the user forward and backward. At a minimum, the boot should permit a 20° forward bend and a 30° backward bend to be done with ease.        The boot should prevent any sidewise movements of the foot and the calf of the user and fully support the ankle joint.        The boot should look esthetically pleasing and smooth, without protruding parts.        It should be light in weight.        It should protect the foot and ankle of the user against trauma during various hits and falls.        
Importantly, the design of the skating boot should accommodate the anatomical structure of the foot and ankle, and specifically the fact that the bones of the ankle joint are not protruding symmetrically on both the inside and the outside part of the foot. It is known that the inside bone location is slightly higher and slightly in front of the outside bone.
Many designs of the skating boots are known in the prior art. Some of them are quite flexible while others are entirely rigid.
Some examples of known designs are outlined below. None of them however, are believed to satisfy completely the above-enumerated requirements.
Bourque discloses a molded athletic boot in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,856. The boot is formed of a lower portion hinged to the upper portion. The lower portion includes an upstanding extension on each side of the forward instep portion to which flexible straps are secured. The extensions are crossed and the straps encircle the back of the boot.
The shortcomings of this and other similar boots come from the presence of the hinge, even if it is located about the ankle joint. Strictly speaking, the ankle is not a hinge. It does not have a narrow axis of rotation. Instead, the ankle joint has a rather complex wide bone structure protruding on both sides of the ankle at asymmetric locations. Bending the calf does not cause the bone to rotate or skin of the leg to shift in any substantial way. Ideal skating boot should therefore accommodate that anatomical feature with internal cavities for the bone on both sides and generally in a better way than just with a simple symmetrical hinge.
Two more examples of hinged boots are shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,033 by Olson et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,885 by Borel. They suffer from the same main drawback associated with the presence of a hinge as the previously discussed skating boot design.
German Patent No. 722,436 by Berger discloses a shoe comprising a lower portion equipped with a wire arch and an upper portion equipped with the sliding means. The upper part is capable of sliding about the ankle of the user in a better way than the hinged design. However, because of the larger diameter of the wire arch, the front and rear portions of the shoe produce wrinkles as the calf is bent forward and backward. That can be seen with clarity on FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 of the drawings. Provisions are needed to compensate for that wrinkling effect.
Finally, the Austrian Patent No. 242,028 shows a connection between a lower and upper portion of the boot to be made as a pair of sliding concave disks. The disks are still joined together with a hinge although this design has some advantages of having a better anatomical shape than others.
The need therefore still exists for a skating boot satisfying the above mentioned requirements having a simple and easy to manufacture design.